Supreme Court of the United States
Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc.
November 10, 1998525 U.S. 55
Summary
Justice Stevens delivered the unanimous opinion holding that the on-sale bar under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) can apply before an invention has been reduced to practice. Before the critical date, the invention must have been the subject of a commercial offer for sale and ready for patenting. Readiness may be established through reduction to practice or sufficiently specific drawings or descriptions enabling a skilled person to practice the invention. The Court rejected the Federal Circuit’s substantial-completion standard but affirmed its judgment because Pfaff had accepted a commercial purchase order and supplied enabling drawings more than one year before filing his patent application. There were no separate opinions.
Holding
- Whether reduction to practice is necessary to trigger the statutory on-sale bar.. The on-sale bar applies when, before the critical date, the product is the subject of a commercial offer for sale and the invention is ready for patenting. Readiness can be established by reduction to practice or by drawings or other descriptions sufficiently specific to enable a person skilled in the art to practice the invention; actual reduction to practice is not required.
- Whether Pfaff’s invention satisfied the on-sale bar before the critical date.. Pfaff’s patent was invalid because his invention had been commercially offered for sale and was ready for patenting more than one year before he filed his application.
Docket 97-1130
Cited authorities
- 5 Stat. 117
- 5 Stat. 353
- 53 Stat. 1212
- 35 U.S.C. § 102
- 85 U.S.C. § 103
- 85 U.S.C. §100
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